The chair of the Tongan Advisory Council in New Zealand says Tonga needs to focus on expanding its agricultural industry to an export market.

Transcript

The chair of the Tongan Advisory Council in New Zealand says Tonga needs to focus on expanding its agricultural industry to an export market.

This month Tonga has begun celebrating its annual royal Agricultural and Fisheries show which will run throughout the country.

In his opening address for the event, the King said it must be the Ministry of Agriculture's priority to boost the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

Melino Maka told Indira Moala, the government should use the show to invite overseas interest in Tonga's produce.

MELINO MAKA: The agricultural show is a tradition. It was back when I was growing up in Tonga in the sixties and seventies and that was a big thing. But nowadays with globalization and trying to grow the economy, you need to make sure of what you produce in Tonga. And also, really start to think on how you can actually get access to a market. Because that's how you grow the economy. You can't just expect to grow the economy by just having a show like that. It's actually good from a Tongan perspective, but my biggest worry is just having an annual show like this, you spend say about up to half a million dollars on staging the show but that does not really connect it to a market.

INDIRA MOALA: Okay, so you think it should be more than just an exhibition but there should be an encouragement for export into international markets?

MM: Absolutely, because if you listen to some of His majesty's message - he's talking about economic development but it's just how you actually connect it to action. You know, it's a big gap at the moment. And that's what you need to do. Don't just talk about it. Make sure that you're actually serving are benefitting from it.

IM: Speaking of not just talking about it and putting actions to words, you've been involved in a project to do with chilli production in Tonga. It's already starting to generate a lot of excitement. Do you have support from the government?

MM: Yep, absolutely. It's called WAM. Women in Agricultural Media. But what we're trying to do is provide the information to the women but mainly target the women in the rural areas. And at the beginning of this year, we started to put together the project. A nd we actually bring a women's panel from three districts in Tongatapu and we got them together to start to have a look and we already got the market here in New Zealand. And what we're trying to do is to get the women to produce a 12 tonne of chilli. It has generated a lot of interest from women. So it's actually quite exciting and we got the minister and the ministry engaged. And also the women from the rural areas in Tonga.

IM: The king mentioned in his opening address for the agricultural show that that should be one of the priorities for local communities and also the Ministry of agriculture and fisheries, is to encourage the development of women working in this industry. How many jobs do you think this might create for women in Tonga?

MM: At the moment, it's hard to quantify. If you look at what we're doing, all you need to do is have about a quarter of an acre. Out of those three districts in Tonga, their share is about four tonnes of chilli. So it's quite a lot of chilli to start off with. But it's just trying to get the women to look at the economics and connect it to the King's remarks in his opening of the agricultural show in Niua.